Train stations remove adverts for Morrissey album over political views

A no-deal Prime Minister could face immediate vote of no confidence

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Ministers have admitted that just five per cent of new homes built with government money will be the most affordable type of housing – despite the prime minister pledging to build “a new generation of social homes.”

Only 12,500 out of 250,000 homes to be built with the affordable homes budget by 2022 will be social homes.

The remaining 237,500 accommodation units will be classed as “affordable homes” – which can be sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds and rented at near-market rate.

May’s pledge

Speaking to Conservative members at her party’s annual conference in October, Theresa May signalled her intention to enhance the social housing stock – with a £2 billion cash injection into the Affordable Homes Budget.

She pledged: “In those parts of the country where need is greatest we will allow social rented housing to be built, at well below market levels, getting the government back into the business of building houses.”

Theresa May outside of No. 10. (Photo: Getty Images)

However in answer to a parliamentary question from Labour, James Brokenshire, the housing secretary, has revealed: “The £9 billion Affordable Homes Programme will deliver at least 250,000 homes by March 2022. At least 12,500 of these will be for social rent outside of London.

“The Greater London Authority has the flexibility to deliver social rent in London.”

Labour response

Responding to the underwhelming number of social homes to be built, Labour’s shadow housing secretary, John Healey, said: “There’s been a disastrous fall in the number of new genuinely affordable homes for social rent under the Conservatives. We are now building over 30,000 fewer social rented homes a year than when I was Labour’s last housing minister in 2010.

“Ministers’ flawed definition of ‘affordable housing’ includes homes for sale at up to £450,000 and to let at 80 per cent of market rents, so it’s just not good enough for ministers to only commit a tiny fraction of the affordable homes budget to new social rented homes. The next Labour government will build a million low-cost homes, the majority for social rent.”

Charities’ reaction

Housing charities also condemned the plans, suggesting the government must go further to tackle the housing crisis.

Greg Beales, campaign director of Shelter, said: “The gap between the number of social homes we need in this country and how many get built is vast. In fact, we delivered 84 per cent fewer social homes this year than in 2010. This is totally unacceptable when hundreds of thousands of people are homeless and millions more are struggling in unstable and expensive private renting.

“It is time the government charted a new course and seriously ramped up its efforts to get more social homes built. That’s why Shelter has launched an independent commission into the future of social housing that will soon set out a bold and far-reaching vision for the pivotal role it has to play in ending the housing crisis.”

Tory response

But Tory housing minister, Kit Malthouse, claimed that the government is getting serious on house building.

He said: “Over the last three decades governments of all stripes have built too few homes of all types, including for affordable and social rent.

“We’re correcting this with massive investment in house building, including the £9bn affordable homes programme, but also by setting councils free to build the social homes their communities need.

“We expect many thousands of new homes to result and we share the impatience of the British people to see decent homes built for the next generation.”

Housing figures

Last year in England there were 1,409 new social homes built. That means increased funding pledged by the government will only deliver an extra 1,000 per year.

The plans fall well short of previous house-building targets.

39,402 social homes were built in 2009-10, in the year before the Conservatives returned to government.

Train stations remove adverts for Morrissey album over political views

A no-deal Prime Minister could face immediate vote of no confidence

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